Three people were detained after they refused to stand up for the national anthem at a movie screening in Chennai on Wednesday, reports said. They were also allegedly confronted by a group at the cinema hall and manhandled before the screening. They were there to attend a screening of a Bulgarian movie Glory at the Chennai Film Festival at Palazzo Cinemas, Vadapalani.
The mob who manhandled them reportedly consisted of more than 30 people. The trio, which included a senior citizen, and some others who were involved in the manhandling were detained by the police. According to The News Minute, the three people were part of an organisation called the CPI (ML) Resist.
The incident comes a month after seven people were allegedly involved in an altercation at Chennai’s Kasi Theatre on December 11 after they refused to stand up for the national anthem. Chennai police had charged the seven under sections of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
On November 30, the Supreme Court had said that the national anthem must be played before the screening of any movie across the country and that everyone in the audience must stand up. The order only exempted differently-abled persons from standing up.
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